In the pantheon of Mongolian shamanism, tngri (also tengri, tegri) constitute the highest class of divinities and are attested in sources going back to the thirteenth century. Their name deriving from...

As though to confirm the hunch many of us had that our ‘junk’ DNA was anything but disposable, researchers from the Gene and Stem Cell Therapy Program at Sydney’s Centenary Institute have proven that ...

Schizophrenics, some believe, are simply a “modern manifestation of prehistoric tribal shamans.”
After a wonderful summer of fishing and learning to surf, my son, then a 17-year-old junior at a Boston...

As though to confirm the hunch many of us had that our ‘junk’ DNA was anything but disposable, researchers from the Gene and Stem Cell Therapy Program at Sydney’s Centenary Institute have proven that ...

Shamanism is a wide umbrella term for spiritual or ecstatic practices in pre-modern societies in the absence of organized religion.In prehistoric Europe, reconstruction of religious practices affords ...

Michael Harner (born 1929) is an anthropologist, educator and author. He is the founder of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies and the formulator of "core shamanism." His 1980 book, The Way of the Sha...

Qormusta Tengri (Qormusata Tngri "King of the Gods", also transliterated as Qormusta Tngri and Hormusta) is a god in Mongolian mythology and shamanism, described as the chief god of the 99 tngri and l...

Alaskan Natives have a special connection to the land around them, and a kinship with the animals with whom they share that land. Before the introduction of western culture and the religions that are...

Neoshamanism refers to a "new"' form of what adherents call "shamanism", a modern system of seeking visions or healing. Neoshamanism comprises an eclectic range of beliefs and practices that involve ...

The spirit spouse is one of the most widespread elements of shamanism, distributed through all continents and at all cultural levels. Often, these spirit husbands/wives are seen as the primary helping...

Shamanic music includes both music used as part of shamans' rituals and music that refers to, or draws on, this. A shaman's ritual is a ritual and not a musical performance, and this shapes its musica...

Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism is a book written by author and journalist Daniel Pinchbeck, founding editor of the literary journal Open City. ...

Florinda Donner (originally Regine Margarita Thal, later Florinda Donner-Grau) is an American writer and anthropologist known as one of Carlos Castaneda's "witches" (the term for three women who were ...

An astral spirit is a term used in spiritualism and holism. Depending on the time period and culture, the term can have several meanings. During the Renaissance time period it was used in a Platonic f...

Seiðr (sometimes anglicized as seidhr, seidh, seidr, seithr or seith) is an Old Norse term for a type of sorcery which was practised in Norse society during the Late Scandinavian Iron Age. Connected w...

Shamanism (/ˈʃɑːmən/ SHAH-mən or /ˈʃeɪmən/ SHAY-mən) is a practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to encounter and interact with the spirit world and ch...

Chakapa (sometimes spelled shakapa or Latinized to shacapa) is a Quechua word for a shaker or rattle constructed of bundled leaves. Bushes of the genus Pariana provide the leaves for the chakapa. Chak...

Robert Allan Monroe, also known as Bob Monroe (October 30, 1915 – March 17, 1995), was a radio broadcasting executive who became known for his research into altered consciousness and founding The Monr...

Fakir Musafar (born Roland Loomis, August 10, 1930) is considered the father of the modern primitive movement. He has experimented on his own body with body modification techniques such as body pierci...